Arab Women Lead the Charge

Asmaa Mahfouz, a 26-year-old Egyptian woman who two weeks ago had only one name, now boasts at least three. These include "A woman worth 100 men", "The girl who crushed Mubarak" and "The leader of the Egyptian revolution".

EGYPT: Labour Unrest Feeds Growing Protests

President Hosni Mubarak's speech Thursday night in which he refused to quit has provoked anger and could spark further unrest. Massive demonstrations, and pitched battles between pro-democracy protesters and the regime’s security forces, have already been intensifying in every corner of the country.

Jordan Feels a Jolt

The wave of political protests that has struck parts of the Middle East and North Africa over the past few weeks has also affected the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The protest movement here, initiated in the wake of the Tunisian Jasmine revolution, underscores the population’s demand for political reform.

EGYPT: Muslims and Christians Protest as One

Over recent years, Egypt has witnessed mounting tension between its Muslim majority and its sizeable Coptic Christian minority. But in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the site of ongoing mass protests against the ruling regime, members of both faiths chant in unison: "Muslim, Christian, doesn't matter; We're all in this boat together!"

Hungry Gazans Feed Egyptian Troops

Mustapha Suleiman, 27, from J Block east of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, crosses through gaps in the iron fence on the border carrying bread, water, meat cans and a handful of vegetables for Egyptian soldiers stationed on the other side.

EGYPT: Mubarak’s Fate in Military Hands

Make no mistake about it - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will stay in power only as long as his army generals deem it to be in their best interest.

Palestinian Streets Quiet as PA Suppresses Protests

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is using brute force and intimidation tactics - similar to those deployed in Cairo - to suppress pro-Egyptian and Tunisian protests in the West Bank.

EGYPT: Political Energy Powers Exhausted Protesters

Tens of thousands of protesters continue to occupy Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand the ouster of longstanding President Hosni Mubarak. The regime is waging a war of attrition aimed at exhausting demonstrators - and the population at large. But the protest is holding firm.

U.S.-EGYPT: Bush’s Democracy Sage Offers Obama Advice

With then-U.S. President George W. Bush's endorsement of his book, Natan Sharanky, the Ukrainian Soviet dissident turned Likud politician in Israel, rose to super-stardom in the world of democracy promotion.

MIDEAST: Now Gaza Begins to Shake

Ripple effects of the Egyptian uprising are now spreading to Gaza, where some groups are planning a new rally next week. Moves by some Gazans to mimic protesters in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen by taking to the streets are making the Hamas government nervous.

EGYPT: An Air of Dangerous Freedom

Imam Mohammed Al-Saba of the Eisa mosque here in the centre of the rural town Kirdasa takes the pulpit to tell his congregation he can smell "the air of freedom for the first time in 30 years."

Egyptians Pay Heavily for Uprising

The massive economic toll of Egypt’s popular uprising appears to be motivating the government to take extraordinary and often brutal measures to put an end to massive demonstrations calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

EGYPT: ElBaradei Appears an Unconvincing Alternative

Since early last year, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei has been touted as a possible successor to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. But many protesters say ElBaradei enjoys little if any credibility on the street.

Egypt’s Fate Lies in a Square

Demonstrators who turned up in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday in even larger numbers than on earlier days are from all walks of life: old men wearing traditional galibiyas, young people in jeans and T-shirts, and women of all ages wearing Islamic head scarves. The protesters, whose numbers across the nation are now estimated at more than one million and growing, shout variations of one slogan: "The people want the fall of the regime!"

MIDEAST: Israelis Discover a New Love for Mubarak

Around the world, peoples revel in anticipation of the fall of a regime that has denied its citizens their basic rights. But most Israelis are haunted by nightmare scenarios of 'the day after', as if their country's stability was anchored in the continuity of the rule of Hosni Mubarak – not in peace.

OP-ED: The Fox Guarding the Henhouse

The extraordinary events of January 2011 in Egypt should prove one point for good: Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, U.S. presidents wish their favoured Arab states would forever remain nice, docile autocracies.

U.S.-EGYPT: Neo-Cons Split on Mubarak

The ongoing crisis in Egypt has resulted in a rare split among U.S. hawks, as some leading neo-conservatives have called for Washington to help oust President Hosni Mubarak, while others have joined the Israeli government in quietly supporting Egyptian leader against protesters calling for his ouster.

EGYPT: Mubarak Switches On Smear Campaign

The regime of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has unleashed a media campaign to discredit pro-democracy protestors. That comes on the back of a violent crackdown by his supporters.

Iranian Shadow Touches Egypt

The young activists who began Egypt’s popular uprising admit the online campaign that turned into the country’s largest ever anti-government street demonstrations has far exceeded their expectations. But as the movement gains momentum, protesters are beginning to think about what kind of state will emerge if President Hosni Mubarak falls. And many are worried.

MIDEAST: A Region in Flux, But Will Reforms Stick?

As the world watched nine days of largely peaceful demonstrations in Egypt degenerate into bedlam fueled by confrontational pro-government hoodlums wielding Molotov cocktails Wednesday, observers are tracking the regional contagion of popular, reform-driven uprisings and wondering whether they are enough to usher in real change.

MIDEAST: Israeli Army Battles New Dangers Within

They chant, "One people, one draft!" They raise the flag of unified, across-the- board army enlistment – students and veterans wearing scars of past wars from a few dozen mainstream Zionist civil society organisations and youth movements.